Dr.
Gwen Kay, Professor and Graduate Program Director of the History Department,
and Director of the Honors Program at SUNY Oswego, presented her research
titled Not Just Stitchin’ &
Stirrin’—An Alternative View of Women’s Science Education at ESF on
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 as part of SUNY ESF’s Women in Scientific and
Environmental Professions Spring Speaker Series. The ESF Women’s Caucus and the Environmental
Scholars program jointly sponsored the presentation.
Dr. Kay discussed the history of
home economics and the role it has played as a haven for women in science. Land grant colleges helped to establish
educational opportunities for women, and Home Economics became a back alley for
women to enter into studies primarily dominated by men. Since the core courses of Home Economics
majors included art, biology, calculus, chemistry, engineering, microbiology,
psychology, and physics, women finally had the opportunity to apply scientific
information that they were previously excluded from.
As women began to gain stronger
footing in the STEM fields, Home Economics began to carry a negative
connotation, and many stereotyped it as being a “housewife” major. This stereotype caused a loss of capable
female students in the major, and a growing need to attract male students and
keep on male faculty. Programs began to
change their names to appeal to students interested in applying the sciences to
the home and family. Names were tossed
around at leading Home Economics institutions that included everything from Family
and Consumer Sciences to Human Ecology.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s there was a call to strengthen Home
Economics programs in higher education to attract more science-focused
students.
The major of Home Economics has
begun to loose steam into the later 1990s since women have more opportunities
than ever in “regular” science majors, and the programs are no longer
considered a priority to get women involved in science. In 1993 the name of Home Economics was
officially changed at a Scottsdale, Arizona Conference to Family and Consumer
Sciences to try to eliminate the stereotype altogether, however, many
universities have refused to change their institution’s name even after the
consensus—some due to the time and expense they had already invested in
rebranding, others citing alumnae concerns.
Dr. Kay’s research demonstrates that Home Economics is still a valuable
focus for those interested in home and family dynamics, and deserves its place
among the STEM majors.
Dr. Kay received her B.A. from
Bowdoin College, where she dual majored in biology and history, and a PhD from
Yale University in the history of medicine and science. Her research specializations are the history of medicine and
science, Progressive Era America, and women's history. She authored the 2005
American Nurses Association's book of the year (2005) Dying to be
Beautiful: The Fight for Safe Cosmetics (Ohio State University Press)
and edited Remaking Home Economics: Resourcefulness and Innovation in
Changing Times (University of Georgia Press, 2015) with Sharon Y.
Nichols. Dr. Kay directs Oswego's Honors Program and serves as Graduate
Director for the History department. She teaches courses in American history
and women’s history and in women’s studies. In addition, she currently serves
as Vice President and Secretary of the SUNY Faculty Senate. Prior to joining
Oswego's faculty, she held faculty positions at the University of Tennessee in
Chattanooga, DePaul University, and a fellowship at Ohio State. She was awarded
a Dean's Fellowship in the History of Home Economics, Cornell University (2008,
2006), studying Taking the Home out of Economics: From Home Economics
to Human Ecology.
For
more information about the WiSE Professions Series, please visit http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus.
For upcoming lectures, please visit the College Calendar at http://www.esf.edu/calendar.
As part of their course requirements, students in FOR797 share responsibility for reporting on the WiSE Professions speaker series. The preceding was prepared by Holly Granat, Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, M.S./M.P.A. Candidate
As part of their course requirements, students in FOR797 share responsibility for reporting on the WiSE Professions speaker series. The preceding was prepared by Holly Granat, Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, M.S./M.P.A. Candidate
